Estimated read time: 6-7 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City's first Silicon Slopes Tech Summit encouraged entrepreneurs to make their vision a reality during the two-day tech conference at the Salt Palace from Jan. 19 to Jan. 20.
During one of the breakout sessions of the summit, SilverVue CEO Will West asked the packed crowd: “How many of you have started a company?” About a third of the room raised their hand.
West then followed up and inquired how many in the room were thinking about creating a startup and more hands went up.
With 500 million dollars in venture capital invested in Utah last year, according to Silicon Slopes, many more people are raising their hand to the question: "Have you started a company?"
The Silicon Slopes Summit provided three tracks during the conference: entrepreneur, marketing/sales and tech, and the entrepreneur track was crowded. Attendees to these sessions heard first-hand experiences and advice from CEOs and Vice Presidents on how to hire, find funding and much more.
"It’s a perfect storm for entrepreneurs right now. There’s a lot of funding, there’s a lot of talent and house prices don’t cost a ton," Chief Technology Officer of Start Studio Thane Brimhall said.
Formerly Izeni, Start Studio helps startups take people’s ideas to a full-fledged business and was one of the sponsors of the summit, which drew many venture capitalists and entrepreneurs.
“I think it’s important to demonstrate that Utah is serious about entrepreneurship," Brimhall said. “I’m sure that something good is going to come for the Utah economy just because of this event.”
Three years ago, Executive Director of Silicon Slopes Clint Betts founded non-profit Beehive Startups, which seeks to aid entrepreneurs. Ten years ago, Domo CEO Josh James started Silicon Slopes, an organization that seeks to help Utahns and Utah tech companies.
The two came together and made the brands one under Silicon Slopes. That original work and vision continued under the new brand and Betts said that one of the goals of the Summit “is to empower entrepreneurs and startups to learn, connect and serve.”
One way the Silicon Slopes Summit is empowering entrepreneurs is through their Start Madness competition.
The first night of the summit, six finalists competed for a $300,000 prize. The audience and judges decided to award $200,000 to MarketDial and $100,000 to Blue Matador.
“I think, not only is this first annual summit good for our local economy in Salt Lake, but bringing in technology and continuing to grow this thriving community and economy is only a win and a positive for the city and the state,” said Annie Davis, a member of the Salt Lake City's Department of Economic Development.
The next Silicon Slopes Summit is scheduled for January 2018.
SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City's first Silicon Slopes Tech Summit encouraged entrepreneurs to make their vision a reality during the two-day tech conference at the Salt Palace from Jan. 19 to Jan. 20.
During one of the breakout sessions of the summit, SilverVue CEO Will West asked the packed crowd: “How many of you have started a company?” About a third of the room raised their hand.
West then followed up and inquired how many in the room were thinking about creating a startup and more hands went up.
With 500 million dollars in venture capital invested in Utah last year, according to Silicon Slopes, many more people are raising their hand to the question: "Have you started a company?"
The Silicon Slopes Summit provided three tracks during the conference: entrepreneur, marketing/sales and tech, and the entrepreneur track was crowded. Attendees to these sessions heard first-hand experiences and advice from CEOs and Vice Presidents on how to hire, find funding and much more.
"It’s a perfect storm for entrepreneurs right now. There’s a lot of funding, there’s a lot of talent and house prices don’t cost a ton," Chief Technology Officer of Start Studio Thane Brimhall said.
Formerly Izeni, Start Studio helps startups take people’s ideas to a full-fledged business and was one of the sponsors of the summit, which drew many venture capitalists and entrepreneurs.
“I think it’s important to demonstrate that Utah is serious about entrepreneurship," Brimhall said. “I’m sure that something good is going to come for the Utah economy just because of this event.”
Three years ago, Executive Director of Silicon Slopes Clint Betts founded non-profit Beehive Startups, which seeks to aid entrepreneurs. Ten years ago, Domo CEO Josh James started Silicon Slopes, an organization that seeks to help Utahns and Utah tech companies.
The two came together and made the brands one under Silicon Slopes. That original work and vision continued under the new brand and Betts said that one of the goals of the Summit “is to empower entrepreneurs and startups to learn, connect and serve.”
One way the Silicon Slopes Summit is empowering entrepreneurs is through their Start Madness competition.
The first night of the summit, six finalists competed for a $300,000 prize. The audience and judges decided to award $200,000 to MarketDial and $100,000 to Blue Matador.
“I think, not only is this first annual summit good for our local economy in Salt Lake, but bringing in technology and continuing to grow this thriving community and economy is only a win and a positive for the city and the state,” said Annie Davis, a member of the Salt Lake City's Department of Economic Development.
The next Silicon Slopes Summit is scheduled for January 2018.
